The 15 year old from York leased the land and developed the plans and budgets as part of a major project that he hopes will set him up for success next year at the WA College of Agriculture – Cunderdin.

On accepting Alex’s application to the school, the teachers encouraged him to continue developing his farming skills and experience and record it all along the way, so he arranged to lease some land and set up his own crop.

It was a natural progression for Alex, who has been helping his father with agricultural contracting work for years.

“He’s always been into farming – he loves it,” said Rob Linto. “Alex can already do most things as well as me, if not better.”

Monola® 416TT was chosen for his first crop because of its strong yields, superior returns compared with canola and its ability to help clean up the paddock through the triazine spray.

“We heard about this new seed and it sounded good, especially the $95/t premium, so we decided to trial it on 20 hectares,” said Alex.

Monola® is a healthy alternative to other cooking oils and is lower in saturated fat. Nuseed has been developing Monola® varieties for the past 10 years.

The company’s latest offer, Monola® 416TT, is an early to early-mid maturing open-pollinated variety with good early vigour, comparing favourably with ATR Stingray.

Alex’s crop went in early, on April 1, so it is well advanced for this time of year.

“It’s just down the road from home so I can check it out as often as I like,” he said.

“The crop is looking really good, with lots of pods coming out and it’s up to my shoulders, so about 150 cm.”

While Rob said it didn’t grow as big and thick as some other canola crops he’s grown in the past, it quickly grew tall enough to block daylight and suppress weeds.

According to Alex, he may have to spray for aphids soon, which will involve contracting a plane to get across the crop. He is also watching for sclerotinia.

He believes it’s on track to achieve yields of up to 2.5 t/ha – and he’s got good reason to watch that yield prediction carefully.

“We reckon if Alex gets it to 2.5 t/ha or beyond, he can take the family to Bali,” joked Rob.

“In all seriousness, we reckon it’s got enough nutrition under it to get to 2.5 t/ha, but it will depend on how the rest of the season goes as well.”

As well as starter fertiliser, Alex’s Monola® 416TT received 100 kg/ha of sulphate of ammonia and 100 kg/ha of urea.

Hugh Trenorden, Nuseed’s Area Sales Manager for northern Western Australia, said the crop was looking great.

“Alex has done a great job with our Monola® 416TT so far and if it continues to do well, he’ll have a bumper crop,” said Hugh.

“I can’t wait to see how it goes at harvest, so I’ll be sure to call and check on the final yield.”

Hugh said uptake of Monola® by Western Australia growers was stronger than ever this year, thanks to the yield performance, adaptability and maturity of Monola® 416TT.

When they combined all the data from last year’s National Variety Trials and Nuseed’s trials, Monola® 416TT produced a gross income of $145/ha higher than ATR Stingray.

“Given the potential for good yields and the guaranteed $95/t premium payment above the market price for canola, a lot of growers were keen to try Monola® for the first time this season,” he said.

“Although it is grown the same way as canola, Monola® can offer so much more in terms of healthy profits for growers and a healthier oil for consumers.”

Who is Nuseed?

Nuseed is different. We develop plant traits and top performing canola, sorghum and sunflower hybrid seeds that create new markets and shared value chain opportunities. It demonstrates our global commitment to grow Beyond Yield™ and is what sets us apart.